Lunch at Porthminster Beach Cafe

The weather was on our side for the day for sure – it was a beautiful sunny day and we were lucky enough to be staying at the St. Ives Harbour Hotel & Spa which looks out over St. Ives bay and the beautiful Porthminster beach.

We arrived quite late and were pretty peckish, so it was super easy to pop down the 5 minute walk to the beach and head straight into the cafe.

I say cafe, but it’s technically a restaurant – an award-winning seafood restaurant to be precise! While the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly, the food is beautifully presented and evidently made with care. The menu is a mid to high range price I would say, with loads of delicious Asian and Mediterranean-inspired dishes to choose from.

We sat down with a glass of wine and ordered our main courses straight away. I chose the red gurnard in a coconut sauce with tempura prawns, which was delicious! I’ve had red gurnard a couple of times before and I always really enjoy it, but the coconut sauce was so tasty – I wanted more as soon as I’d finished.

Alex went for the monkfish curry, which smelled (and tasted!) amazing. Both dishes were presented beautifully and were certainly more like something you’d find in fine dining, rather than a ‘cafe’ – so don’t be fooled by the name!

Our only disappointment of the meal was the service. We were ignored several times towards the end of the meal, and were sat waiting for a good 20 minutes for the waitress to come and take our payment at the end. It wasn’t even particularly busy – she just seemed to keep forgetting about us!

Other than that it was a lovely lunch, and I was really impressed by the view over the beach. I imagine in Summer it must get super busy as it’s such a prime location, but worth it for the delicious food if you’re on holiday or visiting St. Ives for the day.